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Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
AT THE PRINCESS
MARGARET
The immunotherapy treatments being studied and administered at The Princess Margaret are available to specific patients with
cancers for which these treatments are applicable. Many ongoing clinical trials are occurring at the Cancer Centre. Patients interested
in participating in such trials should consult their oncologist to determine if this is a suitable course of action for them.
Background imagery courtesy of Thermo Fisher Scientific. The original picture was captured by Dr. Rita Serda
ABOUT CLINICAL TRIALS:
Boosting the
Arsenal
In
adoptive T-cell therapy
,
samples of T-cells are taken out
of a patient. A lab process is
used to boost the number and
effectiveness of these cells, so
they can be put back into the
patient to attack a tumor.
MORE ON PAGE 13
T-cells on
Alert
The goal of
cancer
vaccines
is to
alert T-cells to the
presence of cancer
and to initiate a
strong T-cell response
against the tumor.
MORE ON PAGE 14
What is Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is rapidly gaining recognition
for its potential to change the way we treat cancer
and to join chemotherapy, radiation and surgery
as a fourth pillar of cancer treatment.
Within the international scientific community,
it has been long understood that the immune
system has the ability to conquer cancer.
Three types of treatments being studied, developed and tested at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre:
IMMUNoTHERAPY STRATEGIES
We’re now at a point where this knowledge has
started to become translated into treatment
possibilities for cancer patients.
We have already seen numerous success
stories of cancers fought and lives extended
through immunotherapy.
Revolutionizing
Cancer Therapy
Unleashing the
Immune System
The immune system has ways of
controlling its response to threats to the
body. Most of the time, it holds back
its response at various checkpoints. In
immune checkpoint blockade
, drugs
are used to get the immune system
to release the brakes and allow an
immune response.
MORE ON PAGE 13